A thoughtfully designed home in Auckland works for parents and grown-up children. 

Words Soraya Nicholas     Photography Thomas Law

The section that Neville and Lesley Perrie chose to build their new house upon was everything they had hoped for. It has the requisite flat contour that made construction simple, as well as a view that idles down to a picturesque creek. Their two-storey home sits well on the site, and works perfectly for Neville and Lesley, who share the house with their two grown-up children. The configuration of the home means they can all enjoy one another, or have their own spaces if desired. The master bedroom upstairs allows the adults privacy, and likewise the separate wing for the kids means they can come and go freely without disturbing their parents at night. 

The Perries fell in love with the plans for their home soon after seeing them, but never expected the finished result to be better than the paper version. “It really is even better than we thought it would be,” says Lesley. GJ Gardner Homes North Shore was charged with the design and construction of the house, a decision the Perries made due to feeling most comfortable with the team there. “They were very conscientious about what we wanted, and they helped us to devise a customised plan that included things we wanted, created in a practical way that would work.”

Once the plans had been completed and consent was received, GJ Gardner Homes commenced work on the house, and went direct to PlaceMakers Albany. There they sourced the majority of the building materials, which included pre-nail frames and trusses, all of the cladding products for the home, insulation, linings, mouldings and pre-hung doors. An array of other items were also purchased by the building team as required, from nails to glue and assorted other items. As New Zealand’s leading building supplies merchant, PlaceMakers are the preferred supplier to GJ Gardner Homes on all their under-construction residential housing projects.   

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